Monday, April 06 2020

Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. I hope you’re feeling good,
staying healthy, and ready to begin another work week. The weather
was beautiful this weekend, and we did our best to use up as much of
it as possible - and it’s a good thing we did. We have lots of rain
coming this week. In the forecast I’m looking at, I’m literally
seeing a little rain icon on every single day this week except for
Friday. Fantastic, right?

Sip. I had a great day yesterday. We had a small brunch on the
couch while watching church. Marissa and Rodney shared a big bowl of
Colossal Berry Crunch, and I had a fried egg on toast with hot sauce.
Remember, I have to get at least one pan dirty, even for a quick
breakfast. After finishing our sermon, Marissa and I made a plan for
the day. She had heard about a small pop-up toy store run by a couple
in the Jenny Street neighborhood, and suggested that as a family
afternoon walk. We played around with the idea of a picnic, but as it
was already getting into the afternoon, suspected that wouldn’t be
worth the trouble. Before getting ready for the day, I hit play on
an inane YouTube video called “greatest trick plays of the decade!
suggested by YouTube from the NFL channel.

“I’m having de ja vu,” I said. “I feel like I’ve watched this video
on a Sunday afternoon before when I was supposed to be getting ready
for something.” I eventually did get up off the couch, with the help
of Rodney who instigated a Nerf gun fight on the way up to his
bedroom.

“We’re going out today, dude. Let’s put on a sweet outfit,” I told
him while getting his clothes out of the drawer. Rodney was visibly
excited, stepping into his little blue jeans and struggling his way
into his shirt. He followed me into the bathroom while I brushed my
teeth and put gel in my hair, holding out his hand for some of his
own.

After brewing another pot of coffee and filling some travelers, we dug
Rodney’s car stroller out of the shed and made our way down the
sidewalk. There were lots of people outside, especially on the bike
path. In fact, the little bike path that ran through Goodman
Community Center by our house was even more congested than Atwood
Road, joggers, walkers, and bikers all evenly spaced out six feet
apart. Clearly people are making the most out of the outdoor
provisions in the restrictions, but suddenly I grew worried that they
would have to restrict that too.

We wandered through Atwood, meandering our way though empty sidewalks
and intersections, pushing Rodney in his blue car and holding the dogs
close on their leashes. At last, we arrived at the pop up toy store.
A young couple stood on their porch wearing gloves and masks. Their
front yard was decorated with hand drawn signs, kites, and puzzles on
display. One of them stood in the driveway, showing off the bubble
kit in a live demo. Rodney eagerly pulled on Marissa’s hand, trying
to get closer.

“No dude, we have to stay on the sidewalk. Look, we pick something
out from here and they bring it to us,” advised Marissa. “This is so
nice you guys are doing this,” said Marissa to the lady on the porch.
“I saw this on Facebook and immediately new this would be our big plan
today, he’s so excited.”

We chose a butterfly kite, a giant dragon puzzle, and of course the
bubble kit. “OK, just lay your card on the stairs please,” said the
lady. Marissa slowly approached the porch steps with Rodney and set
her card down, then backed away. The whole thing looked like a tense,
strangely adorable robbery. Wearing gloves, the woman picked up the
card and carefully punched the numbers into a computer, then placed
everything with the card in a bag. “I’m gonna put this on the stairs
for you know,” she said, setting the bag where Marissa laid her card.
“Thanks so much you guys.”

“Thank you!” replied Marissa. “What do you say?” she said nudging
Rodney.

“THANK YOU!” called Rodney. I could have sworn he also muttered
happy birthday under his breath.

We made our way home, and Rodney held the kite in his lap. After
putting his car back in the shed, I set him up for quiet time in his
room. I cracked his window to let the breeze fill the upstairs and
opened his puzzle up on his desk before heading into the kitchen to
start on dinner. Marissa came downstairs fifteen minutes later.

“Just so you know,” she said. “Rodney lost his open window
privileges. He kept trying to smash his toys in the window.”

“Boys are the worst,” I said. Marissa nodded and headed downstairs
to paint. I returned to making a pizza.

And speaking of pizza, I’m finally starting to get the hang of this
civil war flour we bought. I still don’t like the way it tastes, but
at least I know how much to add. It’s drier than all purpose flour,
so I just need to use a little less of it in everything - which is bad
news, since I’m trying to get rid of the stuff, but I’m too
conscientious to just throw it away.

The pizza came out of the oven around seven. After wrestling it out
of the pan onto a cutting board, gritting my teeth to prevent an
outburst of anger, we ate at the dinner table. Marissa and I scarfed
down our pizza and chatted while Rodney finished.

“It’s getting dark, dude,” said Marissa. “We can do bubbles tomorrow,
let’s play with your puzzle after dinner instead.” I made a sad face,
then interrupted. “Maybe just a few bubbles. He was pretty excited.
But you gotta finish your pizza, dude, ok?”

Rodney nodded, and stuck all 5 cubes of pizza in his mouth, looking
back up at me with wide eyes and full cheeks. “Good call,” said
Marissa. “Bubble time!”

Marissa poured the bubble packet into a bucket, holding it up to me
and smiling. “I’m glad we didn’t also get the refill,” she said.
“Look, this stuff is literally dish soap. It’s even blue!”

We made our way outside. Marissa used the green sticks to dip the
string into the soapy liquid. She used her arms to make one big fat
bubble that fell to the ground. “I remember the guy being able to
make more than one bubble,” she said looking confused.

“Here, can I try?” I said, reaching for the wands.

Have you ever come across something that you are inexplicably good at?
Apparently I’m good at making bubbles with a string. “Here,” I said,
suddenly assuming the authority of a bubble-making master. “You can
make a cinching motion with the string and make as much as you want.”
I made several bubbles tumble into the yard. Rodney ran after them
swinging a baseball bat.

“Show Rodney how to do it,” said Marissa.

I grabbed Rodney, and made a bubble with him. He dropped the wands
and picked up his bat again, taking a square stance. “I think he’s
just more interested in whacking ‘em,” I said. “Here, I’ll do it from
the deck.”

I set up shop on our deck, throwing bubbles down to Rodney, the dogs
excitedly running in circles around him as he chased the bubbles with
a bat. “I feel like a boss in a video game or something,” I said.
“Only maybe just the boss at the end of the first level. Bubbles
aren’t that scary.”

Thanks for stopping by this morning. If this whole COVID thing has
got you stressed, take a day to mess around with some bubbles in the
backyard. Once the weather gets nice again, of course. Hope you have
a wonderful Monday.